God and Santa?

Question

What's the comparison here? Atheists state that humans made up the Christian God, just like Santa Claus. Yet, it's pretty easy to prove that Santa Claus doesn't exist. However, there is no evidence yet that has disproved the existance of God.

If you ask 1000 adults if they believe in Santa Claus and then ask the same people if they believe in God, where do you think the most yes answers will be?

It seems as though those people who "made up" God were pretty smart people, since they knew which charcteristics to give God that made Him unable to be disproved.

Greek Gods, like Zues, the supposed God of lightning storms, is easily disproved once you study weather. The Christian God, however, is still going strong, more than 6000 years after the first book of the Bible was written.

Thoughts about this?

I don't mean the person, Saint Nick, I mean the fat guy in red that flies a sleigh pulled by reindeer all over the world delivering gifts made by elves and the North Pole.

Wrong, Loki. My parents didn't tell me God existed. I came to that understanding on my own.

iJew- thank you. You make a lot of sense. I don't offended for bad answers, I expect them, in fact. I just like pointing out flaws in the arguments against God.

grandfather raven- try visiting the north pole- there's no toy factory there.

Laura- You're missing my point. God has not been disproved, despite scientific advances. The people that you say "made him up" would have had no idea what science would discover, but their reports have not been found false. It shows that God is real, not made up.

Tut Uncommon- You're answer implies that God has to follow earthly laws, but He does not. We know that lightning is created be natural weather conditions. Fire and Brimstone falling from the sky is a phenominon that could only result from a higher power.

Answer 1

IMHO, coming from a Christian perspective, celebrating "Santa" at Christmas instead of focusing solely on Jesus' birth has added to the confusion about Christmas and what it is all about.

Why? Instead of focusing on the gift of Jesus--we focus on material things. Also, if we lie to our children about Santa being real...when they find out the truth about Santa, will they think/believe that we are lying about a Savior being born and dying for their sins as well? If you compare the two, both Jesus and Santa are unseen. Both are celebrated at Christmas. If our children are told to believe in both--then later are told we were only *pretending* that Santa is real—he’s really not… What about Jesus? They may think he's just pretend as well. It can be quite confusing to a child who thinks logically.

Instead we should explain to them the God the Father sent the best gift in the world--Jesus our Savior--to us at Christmas. That is the reason we celebrate by giving others gifts as well. We are doing our best to imitate our heavenly Father.

For those who think this idea deprives children--I grew up with parents who told us the truth about Santa and Jesus. Instead of feeling cheated and/or deprived that we didn't get presents from "Santa", I felt privileged to be in on the grown-up "secret" of the truth. I also happily told any grown-up who asked what I was getting from Santa; that I didn't believe in Santa... But I believed in celebrating Jesus being born to save us from our sins. :-)

Blessings this Christmas to all! :-)
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Answer 2

I'm not an atheist, but the only logical difference between "proving' the non-existences of God and Santa Claus is that one can travel to the North Pole and see there's no Santa's workshop, elves, reindeer, etc., whereas no one can travel to Heaven and see if there's a God, Holy Ghost, angels, etc. And the first books of the Bible were written about 3500 years ago. You say that Zeus is easily disproven when one studies weather. Doesn't that argument apply to God as well? The Bible states that God made fire and brimstone fall from the sky to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but that's meteorologically impossible.

As I said, I'm not an atheist, but you don't have much of an argument here.

Ashley, that's an even worse argument. Santa also doesn't follow earthly laws. He flies around the world in one night. Zeus doesn't follow earthly laws, he's immortal and can change forms at will. Your logic assumes that the fire and brimstone incident actually happened. What if it didn't? You believe what scientists say about lightning because it agrees with your belief system, but when it questions your God, you simply say "God can do it! He can do anything!" as though that proves it.

Answer 3

Sorry, but you're wrong. You say that there is no evidence to disprove the existence of God. That may be true, but on the other hand there is no evidence of his existence either. And, since it is a fact that you can't prove a negative, then that pretty well leaves us with the same assumption --- God is a theory, not a fact. That is why a person who goes to college to study for the ministry receives a degree in Theology.

The Bible was written several thousands of years ago in a language that is no longer used. It has been translated, re-written and interpreted numberous times and, is subject to error because of all it's contradictions. I have a long list of these contradictions, that comprises over 20 typewritten pages and even gives verse references. I'll be glad to email it to anyone who would like to have a copy.

Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc. are all fables just like religion is. Only difference is the first three of these fables has served as a positive influence in childhood, while this is not necessarily so of religion.

Answer 4

I like the question, but I don't really have an answer... which is odd for me!

Santa can be disproved, normally by a bigger brother and sister.

God can't be disproved the same way. Those who think he can are fools because even Einstein said the more he studied the heavens the more he believed in a God!

Plus Science can't explain Everything, and does a great job at Disproving itself:

Newton's 3rd law: Energy can never be created or destroyed.

So where did the Energy come from to create the big bang?
Don't get me wrong, the earth is not 16,000 year old, I"m no fool, but science can only explain that a few chemicals in space collide and bang the foundation of the universe takes place.

So I ask a very simple question, and once you non God believers can answer this I will listen that there might not be a God, "Where did those few chemicals come from to cause the big bang?" in other words "What or Who put them there?" Newton says they can't just Exist, because that's creation or proof of God!

Answer 5

( I googled santa clause):

Actually the old "cult" of Santa Claus incorporates many traditions: Christian and Pagan, Old Catholic, Scandinavian, Dutch, German and English.

Santa brings us all together! Kids all over the world know who Santa is... And although he may be a little commercial, who can help, but love the jolly old elf?

It's the Idea of giving that reminds us; we are all on this planet together, for the long run.

So lets be kind to one another.

I don't know of anybody that can crawl down through a chimney/fireplace and distribute gifts under the Christmas tree, (at least not mine) and shimmy back up an 18" hole, hop on their sleigh onto the next house without being heard. Rather, it's the thought of giving out of love to one another. People just need a fictional character to relate in order to remind them. Too bad we don't have that spirit of giving everyday, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a physical gift, instead just to say "I Love you" means more than any gift. Blessings and Merry Christmas--because it is!

Answer 6

You are certainly entitled to your own opinions, but you should learn that it is not any particular characteristic of God that makes it impossible to disprove His existence. The rules of logic, known since the ancient Greeks, state that it is always impossible to prove a negative assertion, because one would have to inspect and reject an infinity of hypothetical possibilities. Thus, it is impossible to prove directly that God (or anything else) does not exist. It is only possible to prove positive assertions -- such as, "God does exist." If such a positive assertion cannot actually be proved, it must then be considered false. This means, because Christians are unable to prove their own assertion that God exists, it is thus proved that He does not. Note that this has nothing whatever to do with any of God's supposed characteristics, and everything to do with the well-established rules of logic. The same logic is used in any court of criminal law -- if the Prosecution can't prove that the Accused did the crime, it is the only possible proof that he did not.

Answer 7

You are fairly sure that the incarnation of Santa Claus that your parents told you about doesn't exist.

But that doesn't mean Santa CAN'T exist. Just because you don't understand Santa, doesn't mean he doesn't exist. He exists in the hearts and minds of children the world over. You can't debunk that, no matter how hard you try.

(The preceding is exactly what Christians like yourself will say when defending the equally improbable existence of the Christian god. You'll start spinning it, just like I spun Santa. Now perhaps you understand why we make the comparison)


(Edit - Zeus and Santa don't follow natural laws either, honey. You're really digging a deep hole for yourself here...)

Answer 8

The problem is, nobody "made up" God. I know what you're saying here but we don't have to prove or disprove God. That is for Him to do.

God says "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, SO THAT MEN ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE." (romans 1:20).

I think we spend too much time trying to do what only God can do.....

Just a thought.

Answer 9

excuse me by responding with a question. why do atheists complain so much about people pushing religion down their throat because it's false, but yet they have no problem lying to their own children about false characters such as santa clause, the tooth fairy, or the easter bunny?

but the christain religion is actualy based on the jews religion. they are just a sect that broke off from that group. (they had problems seeing eye to eye) just like much of buddhism is based on hinduism, since the original buddha himself, was a hindu.

i think some gods are like the aliens in outerspace(or lack there of). it's hard to disprove the unknown.

Answer 10

the reason you can't disprove (or prove) the existence of god is because descriptions of god and where he lives are so very vague. you can fly to the north pole and see that there's no workshop full of elves, but can you give me the coordinates to heaven? the things that people claim were done by santa (going down the chimney and leaving toys) are clearly done by others (your parents), but the things people claim are done by god (cancer in remission after prayer) are things that also happen to non believers. you can't prove god exists, but you can take the evidence and use logic to decide that he doesn't.